Employment of mothers with infants decreases again

Of married mothers with infants, the proportion with jobs decreased from 53.7 percent in 1999 to 51.1 percent in 2000. In contrast, unmarried mothers experienced a gain in employment in 2000, as they did in the previous two years. Last year, 50.7 percent of unmarried mothers worked for pay, up from 49.5 percent in 1999. This rise, combined with the decline in jobholding by married mothers, narrowed the difference in employment by marital status to less than one percentage point.